Songs of Good Cheer
by twilighttries
Summary: [oneshot] She hated her job at Christmastime, but there was an upside. There was that cute boy who sometimes worked her shift. [namineroxas]


This took forever. I started it a few days before Christmas, but it took forever to finish because of the holidays and such. Happy New Year all! It's a Christmas story, but oh well. Add some more joy to distract you from school and work. ;)

**Disclaimer:** I own neither Kingdom Hearts nor Romeo and Juliet.

* * *

Naminé yawned. Oh, how she despised her job at times. But at others, she loved it. She didn't usually have this one particularly, but during the winter season, it paid so well. Normally, she wouldn't tell anyone this, but she was one of the elves that helped Santa at the mall. Totally embarrassing. She wished that she could be one of those cool seventeen-year olds. The ones who worked in Express or the Limited and could always pick out the right outfit, not to mention looking perfect all the time. But whatever, Naminé had never been one of those girls. She wasn't shallow, which ruled her out of the first job. However, she did love working with kids. So, she got stuck in the elf costume, letting little kids up to Santa. This only _really_ sucked when no one came to see Santa, like now, for example. But it wasn't all bad. 

There was that cute boy who worked her shift. Sometimes.

He was working with her now. He called up the next parent and excited/terrified child, and she held their hand and walked them to and from Santa. He would smile at her sometimes, too, but she wasn't sure if he was putting it on for the child or if it was real. She knew his name was Roxas, but only because of his name tag. They'd never actually spoken.

"Naminé! Roxas!" called their boss, Saïx. Both glanced over at him. Naminé saw, out of the corner of her eye, Roxas visibly flinch. He pronounced his name Rocks-ise, and Saïx insisted on saying it Rahcks-ehs. Not to mention, Roxas was terrified of him, from his demanding voice to his scary-ass scars. "We need to you wrap more gifts. Selphie will take over here." He gestured toward the hyperactive brunette walking toward them. She smiled at Naminé, who gave a half-hearted wave. "Move, guys!"

"And _that_ is the reason no one wants to be around Santa," Roxas mumbled, following Naminé toward the gift-wrapping station. "Saïx."

Naminé smiled, but he didn't see it, being behind her.

As they finally rounded the corner, Naminé started biting her lip. Nasty habit of hers. As she stoppped short, Roxas walked past her smoothly and sat down. There was a medium sized table covered in various wrapping objects. Paper, bows, ribbons, everything. He waved her over.

"Never been here before?" he asked, and she shook her head. "Come on, sit down."

Naminé did what she was told, but just sat there.

"What's wrong?"

"I…uh," she mumbled. "I don't know how to wrap a gift."

"How is that possible?" he asked, bewildered

"Christmas was never a big thing for me. I got other people to wrap gifts for me."

"You must have great friends, then."

"No. No friends. Just servants."

"Oh." Awkward pause. "It's easy, I'll show you."

He stood up and ended up behind her. Reaching over her shoulders, he took her hands and grabbed a Lego toy set with them. His hands were warm and soft, large, too. Naminé felt so small, and she felt her face beginning to flush.

"Put it upside-down," he said to her, letting go of her hands. She did so. "Now fold over the edges of the wrapping paper so that you can't see the box. Perfect! Here." He taped the paper down, brushing his fingers against hers. If possible, her face got even redder. Thank Jesus he was behind her.

"The next part's kinda hard, so I'll do the first side, and you can do the other?"

"Sure." He sat down next to her and took the present with him. Poking the paper, he made two triangles and cut off the top one. He proceeded to fold the stump down and pulled the bottom up, so that it lay on top of the box. He taped it down, and then looked at her.

"Think you can do it?"

"Uh, yeah."

With ease, she finished the present. Roxas told her how make the ribbon, and she did it as though it were nothing.

"There you are." He smiled. He had a great smile. Not that she was staring or anything.

"Thanks," she mumbled and started on a second present. She was surprised. She hadn't expected him to be so friendly. He was so reserved when they worked. Nimbly, she finished her second and third presents. As she started on her fourth, she found that Roxas was staring.

"What? Am I doing something wrong?"

"Are you sure you haven't done this before?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Because your presents are perfect. You've got artist's hands, or something."

She smiled.

"I like drawing. And I'm good at art. Maybe that has something to do with it?"

"Most likely."

She laughed and decided that she liked him. He seemed like a cool guy. After a few minutes, he spoke up again.

"What do you mean, Christmas was never a big deal for you?"

Naminé glanced away from the boy. She couldn't blame him for being curious, but it wasn't her favorite topic.

"Well…" she started softly. "My parents were never big into holidays. They weren't big into being parents, either. So I never really got the whole Christmas spirit thing. I grew up without it. I'm starting to think it's impossible for me to have a happy Christmas."

"That's horrible. Maybe you should try to convince them this year to, you know, like, celebrate."

"I don't talk to them. I live on my own, in an apartment not too far from here. They pay for it."

"Wait a minute. Is your family rich?"

She sighed. She hated telling people who she was, because they treated her like royalty afterwards instead of a person.

"Yes. I'm Naminé Calugo."

"Calugo? The richest family in Twilight?"

"That's us," she said sadly.

"Wow. That's so sad. I always thought you guys had it all."

"Not quite. You have more than I'll ever have."

"What are you talking about? You could have anything!"

"No, I can't," she said, frustrated. She grabbed another box. "Those are things you can buy. You can buy things anytime. I can't buy love. I can't buy friends, or holiday spirit, or a family that loves me. You're luckier than you know, Roxas."

His lips twitched.

"I never really thought of it that way," he said slowly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize," she mumbled. "You didn't do anything wrong."

"I guess."

"Roxas! Naminé!"

"God damn it," Roxas said angrily. "Yes, Saïx?"

"We need you out here!"

"We're coming," Naminé called. They both rose. As they walked, Naminé could feel Roxas staring, but she wouldn't say anything. She just couldn't.

-x-x-x-x-x-

A week later, Naminé and Roxas found themselves standing by the pathway to Santa, bored silly.

"Hey, Naminé?" Roxas said, suddenly.

"Mmmm?"

"Would you want to hang out with me and my friends after work today?"

Naminé gracefully slipped off the railing she was leaning on.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Do you want to hang out with us today?" Roxas repeated, holding out a hand to help her up.

"I… I would love to," Naminé answered, as she was pulled from the ground.

"Really?"

"Of course!" she replied happily. "It's not like I have anything better to do."

Roxas smiled and Naminé couldn't resist doing the same. Their hands stayed linked between them, and as they glanced down, both faces flushed red.

"Sorry, I-"

"_Santa!_" cried a child, plowing right through them and hopping on Axel, who was dressed up as Santa.

"Sorry!" cried a woman, scurrying over. She had short brown hair and one green eye, as well as a blue eye. "I let go of her hand for just one second and she ran off. So, so sorry. Yuffie! Get back here!"

"Mommy! I'm telling Santa what I want! Gosh! Anyway, I want a toothbrush, and a pony, and I want Mommy to get together with that boy that she always giggles and blushes around—"

"I think that's enough, little girl," said Axel merrily. Roxas rolled his eyes and Naminé laughed. Sometimes, he took his job way too seriously. "I'm beginning to think that you were a bad girl, judging by the angry look on your Mommy's face."

"I wasn't a bad girl! I swear!" cried Yuffie, tears starting to form in her eyes.

"I know, but make sure to do everything your Mommy says to make sure you're on my 'nice' list!"

"I will! Doncho worry! I'll be the nicest ninja you ever did see!" She launched herself off Axel's lap and ran to her mom. "Bye Santa! Bye elves!"

"Goodbye," said Naminé, with a smile.

Her mother smiled and walked away with Yuffie, who was talking nonstop.

Roxas laughed, and glanced at his watch.

"Three o'clock," he sighed.

"I'm done."

"I've got another half hour," moaned Roxas. "Meet me back here then?"

"Sure. Bye."

"Later."

After grabbing her knapsack, Naminé made her way to her bathroom. She loved this bathroom, particularly because no one ever went in it. It was wedged between a bizarre store that few people ever went in and an exit to the mall. The walls were an ugly pastel pink with three stalls of the same color. Naminé smiled and entered one. From her knapsack, she extracted a pair of skinny jeans, white flip-flops, and her favorite white shirt dress. She stripped off her elf costume and pulled on said outfit. She exited the stall and stood facing the mirror. The strap of the dress was securely fastened around her neck and it clung at all the right places. It was ghostly white, with the exception of the small star and heart she'd drawn in black permanent marker at the bottom right corner. She'd been chastised something awful by her parents when they'd seen the tiny mark. Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she applied her grey eyeliner and lip gloss. Not much though. She didn't want to look like a whore. Looking herself over, she decided that she looked alright. She wouldn't be cold in her halter and flip-flops, due to the fact that it was rarely ever cold in Twilight, even during Christmastime. With a sigh, she slung her knapsack over her shoulder and started back towards Santa's area.

Within a few yards, Naminé noticed Roxas talking to the gorgeous blonde who'd taken her place. Rikku, she thought her name was. He laughed (not that she could hear it) and his hand reached his blonde mane. Rikku smiled and touched his arm, giggling. Naminé took a deep breath and turned to leave. She felt odd. Was it jealousy or betrayal? She didn't know. It wasn't the first time she'd felt this way.

_Stupid girl,_ she thought bitterly. _You thought he was different than your family._

She bit her lip.

"Excuse me?"

Naminé gasped and looked up, startled.

"I'm sorry," said the girl in front of her, looking sincerely apologetic. She had long brown hair and bright emerald eyes; Naminé guessed that the she and the girl were about the same age. Behind her stood an annoyed looking boy with blonde hair gelled back and up. "I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to know the time. My friend should be getting off from work soon and Hayner here is getting agitated."

"We've been here _forever,_ Olette. What's taking him?"

"Uhm, it's three twenty-nine."

"We've been here ten minutes. Chill out, Hay. He'll be here one more minute. Can you live?"

"I don't know," replied Hayner, melodramatically placing a hand to his forehead and falling to the ground. As Olette laughed, he grabbed onto her and pulled her down as well. Naminé smiled.

"Thank you," Olette choked out.

"You're welcome," she replied and started to walk away.

She heard footsteps behind her and voices speaking.

"Naminé, wait!"

She turned her head to see Roxas behind her.

"Come on," he said. "You weren't planning on ditching me or anything, where you?"

"Well," she replied, blushing furiously. "No."

"Good," he said with a smile, and took her arm in his and led her toward Hayner and Olette. "Guys, this is Naminé."

Olette said, "Oh! So you're the girl Roxas hasn't stopped talking about. Roxas, you're right, she is really pretty."

Naminé blushed furiously and shuffled her feet. She was never really very good with speaking to people.

"'Letty, you're embarrassing him."

"When has that stopped you before, Hayner?"

"True. Very true."

Naminé laughed and Olette turned to her.

"So, Naminé, that's a nice name. What do you like to do? Sing? Write? Tease our little Roxas here?"

"I draw," she replied with a smile. "Sketch, actually."

"That's so cool! I always wished I could draw, but I'm horrible. What do you draw?"

"Portraits, when I can. Otherwise, I paint still life."

"Damn," Hayner said with a smirk. He was semi-bored of the conversation and really wanted to leave the mall before Olette decided she wanted to go shopping. "Well, Roxy darlin', where we heading?"

"I told you not to call me that," Roxas mumbled.

"Sorry," he replied, pinching his friend's cheek. "You're just _so cute_."

As she laughed, Naminé got the feeling she would like Roxas' friends.

-x-x-x-x-x-

"'Twas the night before Christmas and all through the mall,

Every creature was stirring, buying every new doll.

Young Roxas and Naminé stand on their own.

Nothing to do on Christmas Eve? Well, who would have known?"

Naminé just laughed.

"Stick to your day job, Ax," said Roxas with a smirk.

"Ax? As in Axel? I do not go by Axel, because I am Chris Cringle! Also known as Santa Claus!"

Naminé giggled, "I think you had too much to drink."

Axel just smiled at that comment.

"We're closing up," spat Saïx, who was walking by. "The mall's closing."

"'Kay."

"Wait!" said Axel. "Naminé, come here."

Hesitantly, she obliged.

"What would you like for Christmas, little lady?"

Naminé laughed, and saw Roxas smile as he pulled off his elf costume. He had street clothes underneath them.

"Uhm."

"There must be something I can get for yah."

"_He really does like you,"_ echoed Olette's voice in her memories. _"Honestly. He doesn't talk about most people the way he talks about you."_

"Him," she whispered, looking at Roxas.

"Him?" Axel repeated. As a wild grin crept on his face, he added, "Maybe I can work something out."

She just laughed.

"Sure," she said, unbelieving and starting down the stairs. "Have a happy Christmas with your friends, Axel. Don't get too high."

"I won't," he smiled. "And have a happy Christmas with… who do you celebrate with?"

"No one. I spend Christmas alone."

"You wanna come to my party?"

"No, thank you."

"Suit yourself," he replied. "But have a happy Christmas anyway. I'm sure you will. Send Roxas up, will you?"

"Thank you and sure."

As she walked up to Roxas, he looked up at her with eyebrows raised.

"Don't ask," she said. "He wants you next."

Roxas rolled his eyes and smiled as he walked up to the faux-Santa. Naminé waved slightly and both boys waved back. Seeing Roxas on Axel's lap, she choked down giggles and made her way to her car. She drove home quickly, threw on her pajamas, and fell asleep immediately. Contrary to past Christmases, she did indeed dream of sugar plums and fairies, like the boys and girls in storybooks.

-x-x-x-x-x-

As she plopped down the stairs of her apartment on that lonely Christmas day, she sang to herself softly.

"Have yourself a merry little Christmas… dah dah dah daahh dum." The end lacked words, mainly, because she forgot them.

Her hair hung loose on her shoulders, which were covered by her favorite white tee, which revealed her collarbones, but hid her cleavage. Navy blue pajama pants hung loosely at her hips. She jogged into her kitchen and snatched her package of cookie dough from the 'fridge, afterwards settling herself on the couch. As she turned on the television, a knock came from her door. She sighed, but got off the comfortable seat and pulled the door open. She gasped as she saw who was there.

Roxas stood sheepishly, decent in a blue button down shirt which hung over form-fitting black jeans.

"Hi."

"Uh, hi?" she replied with a confused look. "What are you doing here? How do you know where I live?"

"I looked you up the phone book. And, uh, well. I know that you don't do much on Christmas and my family went upstate for the week, so I was alone, and I felt like I should do something so I was planning on going out to eat at Costo's, but it would've been awkward going alone so I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?"

Pause.

"That was an awfully long sentence, Roxas."

"Yeah, I know."

"But I'll give you the fact that I've never heard anyone cram so many words into a fifteen second period."

He laughed.

"Shut up," he retorted playfully. "So, would you grace me with your presence?"

"Uhm, sure, I guess. But I'm sort of…"

"Go change," Roxas said, knowing exactly was she thinking. "It's a semi-formal place, nothing really fancy."

"Okay. Oh, I'm so rude, come in!"

After she ushered him inside, she shut the door and said, "You can watch TV if you'd like," then rushed to the second area of her two floor apartment.

Within moments, Naminé was back downstairs, fully clothed in a red tee, the words "What is love?" printed upon it in gold, a flowing white skirt that reached her knees, and green pointed heels with black socks. As he stared, she tilted her head and asked, "Shall we go?"

"Yes, of course."

They made their way to the packing lot behind her building and Roxas kindly opened his car door for her. She stepped inside and noticed how clean his car was. She would've never expected a boy his age to keep his room clean, let alone his car. So, they made their way to the restaurant. Here, her memories fade slightly. Normally, she has a crisp, clear memory, but every year she would try to block Christmas out of her memory. On this particular year, she wanted to remember everything, but old habits die hard and, like water, some moments of the night trickled through her fingertips. Though she didn't remember details, their laughter, smiles, and joy remained in her heart. After that meal, Naminé knew, though she wouldn't admit it, that she'd fallen for the bed-headed blonde.

From the restaurant, they headed to a park. It was dimly lit, but the pathway that snaked through the trees was wide and empty, so they had no problem walking. _Shuffle, clunk, shuffle, clunk _went their feet on the pavement. Roxas looked down at her heels.

"How do walk in those?"

"These? They aren't that hard. I've become used to them. I'm not awful in them."

Fate, having nothing better to do than torture innocent teens, had her stumble over herself at that precise moment. Roxas just laughed and held up his hand.

"High five."

As she pressed her palm to his, he held it there by interlocking their fingers.

"Good pilgrim," she mumbled. "You do wrong your hand too much."

Roxas gave her an odd look.

"Which mannerly devotion shows in this; for saints have hands that pilgrims' hands do touch, and palm to palm is holy palmers' kiss." Blushing, she started to add, "It's Shakes-"

"Have not saints lips and holy palmers too?"

Naminé smiled. In 9th grade, each boy and girl was paired up and forced to memorize a scene from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and then perform it in front of the class. This was her scene. She was surprised that she herself had remembered the old English lines so well.

"Ay, pilgrim, lips they must use in prayer."

"O then, dear saint, let lips do what hands do. They pray; grant thou, lest faith turn to despair."

Naminé felt her cheeks getting hotter.

"Saints do not move, though grant for prayers' sake," she recited.

"Then move not while my prayer's effect I take. Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purged."

And just like that, magic occurred. There in that wonderful park, Roxas pulled her towards him slightly and kissed her. As they broke apart, her only thought was her next words.

"Then have my lips the sin that they have took."

"Sin from my lips?" Roxas answered perfectly, looking appalled. "O trespass sweetly urged. Give me my sin again."

Another kiss. Naminé sighed softly after this one, and Roxas put his arm around her shoulders, hers around his waist. They began to walk again.

"Maybe I can have a happy Christmas."

His lips met her temple gently.

"I hope so."

"Thank you, Roxas."

"You're quite welcome."

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please review. Happy Christmas and happy New Year! 


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